LAST Sunday, my wife and my Mom joined me for a day of fishing, picnicking and swimming on the East Fork of the Carson River, just a few miles from Markleeville.
IT was a gloriously hot day; glorious mostly because we were able to spend it on, and in, the cold Carson.
Starting the Day With a Ride
MY day began with a ride up Hwy. 4 towards Ebbett’s Pass; in this case up to the 7000′ mark at Raymond Meadow Creek. This is a great ride; a 26 mile round trip from HQ here in Markleeville, with approximately 1500′ of climbing.
I also did a bit of swimming hole recon. on the ride in preparation for our day on the river and decided on what turned out to be a great location.
WITH last week’s heat wave – thankfully we’ve got a bit of a respite before things ramp up again this weekend – I was getting my rides in during the morning hours. Yesterday, in fact, I rode part of this route (up to Silver Mountain City) starting about 6:30 a.m. and it was a sublime experience; one of those perfectly quiet (except for the river and the birds), almost car-less rides that we’re privileged to be able to pedal here in the California Alps.
I highly recommend these early a.m. forays! Below are some pix I snapped along the way. See what I mean?
At the Swimming Hole
Even though I’m not a father to any human children, thanks to my lovely wife I get a bit of fatherly spoiling on Father’s Day since I am the “Dad-cat.” This day was no exception. The Goilz had prepared a plethora of picnic items and so all I had to do was load up the truck and get us there.
UPON arrival it was straight into the river. A bit chilly at first but oh so invigorating, especially with a cold beverage in hand.
THEN, a bit of fishing, and some catching, in the same hole. That’s it in the image above – the flat water in the middle of the frame. My fishing foray was followed by a nice lunch and another cerveza.
Nothing better than sipping beer in a cool river on a hot day, right?
AT one point, as I was re-positioning upstream so I could get a better drift into a particular eddy, a shadow crossed my path. Looking up, there it was!
THE fish were small, however, (but any day fishing…) and several of them went back from whence they came, but I did catch a decent 10″ rainbow and kept another smaller one that had been hooked badly enough that it had to be kept. Those are the little beauties below.
The Salvage Operation
BEING sated from a great lunch, and a bit buzzed from those beers, it was back in the water for one last swim before we headed back to the Chalet. I had brought a pair of swimming goggles as I was curious to see if I could catch a glimpse of a trout or two, or perhaps something else of interest.
A glint on the bottom of the pool caught my eye and after several tries (the water was flowing pretty well and the pool was over 6′ deep) I was able to snag the item – a lure it was!
I then patrolled the pool with more purpose and low and behold I found a veritable treasure-trove of lost lures.
TWO of ’em had hooks that were too badly rusted for future use but the others went into the tackle box. Hopefully they’ll bring me good luck in the future.
THE trout? They were thrown on the grill that night and included in our Father’s Day feast. El pescado era muy delicioso!
A Perfect Day
AND one I highly recommend. Yes, we are California Alps Cycling, but as I regularly tell anyone who’ll listen it’s not only about the bike. That’s just a bonus on some days.
THIS was one of them!
SO next time you come on up to Markleeville, don’t just bring the velocipede. Include that swimming apparel, some fishing poles and what the hell, a mask or some goggles.
YOU never know what kind of adventures you can have, or what you might find along the way!